In last week's story "Pot 2.0," why are the only sources cited law enforcement officials who have a vested interest in keeping marijuana prohibition going? No, marijuana is not a narcotic. No, butane labs are not exploding all over the state like Fourth of July fireworks. The labs are a problem, yes, but only because of prohibition. We don't hear about homemade alcohol distilleries exploding anymore because people can buy booze at grocery stores and gas stations. The story also implied that the high THC content in honey oil is somehow dangerous. If so, why is synthetic Marinol, a product of Big Pharma, legal with a THC content of 100 percent? [continues 52 words]
Ordinance revision The Calabasas Planning Commission said last week it would reinforce regulations against marijuana dispensaries in an attempt to prevent lawsuits against the city. Medical marijuana dispensaries are prohibited in Calabasas. Dispensing cannabis as a home occupation also is illegal. But criminal charges that are filed against medical marijuana users run counter to the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which legalized medical pot sales statewide. Local governments, however, can still pursue civil cases against dispensary owners-with less fear of backlash. [continues 180 words]
While Prop. 19 Loses, Residents Protest Closure of Agoura Hills Marijuana Clinic Residents from the area filled the Agoura Hills City Council chambers last week to protest the closure of the Conejo Wellness Center, a medical marijuana dispensary that was shut down by law enforcement on Oct. 14. North Hollywood attorney Arthur Hodge, who is representing the Conejo Wellness Center in a lawsuit to keep the facility open, said the council ordinance that prohibits medical marijuana facilities in all business zones of the city was "illegal, unconstitutional and unenforceable." [continues 689 words]
Regarding your story last week, "Westlake City Council nixes medical marijuana dispensary," these are the facts. To open a medical marijuana collective in Los Angeles County you must have a state seller's permit, a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation set up, liability insurance for a collective and a lease from a building owner spelling out medical marijuana collective operations. In some cases, a conditional use permit is needed as different cities require additional business licenses to operate. In the city of Westlake Village, no business license is required, no conditional use permit is available for a medical marijuana collective, there is no moratorium prohibiting this type of business, there is no operating ordinance to follow for a collective, and there is nothing in the zoning codes of the city of Westlake Village which is either for or against a collective. [continues 303 words]
In support of the comments last week by Juliet Hotchkiss ("Marijuana safer than alcohol"), the war on drugs is over. It failed. It wasn't just a huge failure, it was a catastrophic failure. We've been at it for over 30 years at a cumulative cost of hundreds of billions of dollars and usage rates are actually higher now than they were when we started. Prohibition has never been an effective strategy to discourage any psychotropic or mind altering substance use. It's not just that it just doesn't work--the resulting black market insidiously spreads corruption well beyond the drug's impact on any individual user. [continues 127 words]
I don't know where Juliet Hotchkiss ("Marijuana safer than alcohol") gets her information from, but the notion that kids who turn from alcohol to marijuana and become "kinder and gentler" is like saying a knife is gentler than a gun. People with addictions get it where they can. When the buzz doesn't work as well after a while, they use more and more of the substance or use it as a "stepping stone," a gateway to another drug. As for driving high, high is high, period. It doesn't matter, Ms. Hotchkiss, whether you are conservative or liberal--alcohol and drugs do not choose by political correctness. Want to do what's best for the children? Let them get high the old-fashioned way, through acts of love, respect for themselves, and by not taking life for granted. George Shepherd Agoura Hills [end]
After throwing $500 billion down a rat hole in the so-called war on drugs, marijuana is more popular than ever and our administration's answer to drug cartels is to try to take away our guns and give Mexican president Felipe Calderon Black Hawk helicopters to escalate this insanity further. I have been a liberal Democrat since I was old enough to vote, but I fear that my party sees this antiBush vote as a mandate for their own brand of extremism. What they are going to accomplish by assaulting the Second Amendment is to severely jeopardize a woman's right to choose, equal rights for gay Americans and other truly important progressive core issues and make Barak Obama into a one-term president. [continues 116 words]
I found the article on laws and attitudes regarding marijuana and dispensaries so very discouraging. I understand that this area is a bastion of conservatism and is therefore, by definition, disposed to resist change. But haven't we passed the point at which new information should trump conservative tendencies? The lies and misinformation about marijuana that started with the film "Reefer Madness" have been thoroughly and utterly disproved, yet they continue to be used by certain government officials to create fear and apprehension in their constituents on this issue. [continues 165 words]
Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 that decriminalizes medical marijuana, might be the law in California, but dispensaries that are used for selling the weed will be against the law in Agoura Hills if city officials have their way. According to California law, cities have the right to prohibit the operation of certain businesses under their general plan and specific ordinances. On July 17, the Agoura Hills Planning Commission recommended that the City Council approve a zoning amendment outlawing the medical marijuana cooperatives. [continues 339 words]
Some Believe Copier Business Was A Front The Conejo Wellness Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in Agoura Hills, has agreed to vacate the Agoura Road office building by Oct. 23. A settlement agreement was reached between the owners of the building and Richard Tavolieri, the alleged owner of the marijuana cooperative. All Brand Copiers and the Conejo Wellness Center are listed at the same address-29399 Agoura Road, Ste. 112. Tavolieri denied all allegations in the complaint, according to Gerard Dougherty, owner of Dougherty & Landon, APC, the Westlake Village law firm that represented the office building owners in the case. But Tavolieri agreed to the terms of the settlement. [continues 261 words]
Just a quick note of appreciation for your article on the abuses of the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996. I regret that other journalists who cover this issue are not as discerning, choosing instead to paint everything in black-and-white (for it or against it), with little or no interest in the nuances of the medical marijuana laws or their implementation. As the co-author of Prop 215 and the founder of L.A.'s first "cannabis dispensary," the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, I am appalled at what is going on in the name of "compassion." [continues 215 words]
A decade has passed since Californians voted to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. At the time, one of the arguments against legalizing the drug was that the law might open the door to abuse, especially among teens. Indeed, many teenagers in the area have found that the marijuana grown and dispensed by medical groups can be easily obtained, and is perhaps of even higher quality than what can be purchased on the street. California voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996. The law, also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, was intended to give seriously ill Californians the right to possess and use marijuana for a variety of chronic medical conditions. [continues 859 words]
